Moonsongs (2008)

Moonsongs is based on seven poems by Carl Sandburg. Sandburg wrote a number of poems that mention the moon – sometimes as the focus of the poem, sometimes as a peripheral image. But the ones I chose for this set focused on other recurring themes as well: loneliness, dreams, and memory to name a few. The imagery and haunting mood of these poems came together in my mind to form the image of a character, alone, half-mad and half-asleep, between dream and reality, singing to the moon and at times imagining the moon singing back.

Each of the eight movements is relatively short – some no more than brief flashes of sound. In several songs, the vocalist is asked to not only sing, but to whistle and hum as well, to lend a “voice” to the wordless song of the moon.

The title comes from another poem of Carl Sandburg, called “Silver Wind,” in which he writes:

And another long breath for the silver soprano melody of the moon songs